The present invention relates to a system and method that facilitate development of computer games and more particularly, a system and method that facilitate development of computer games that include representations or depictions of simulated real world geographic areas.
Computer games have developed in sophistication and commercial importance. Improvements in computer hardware and software have enabled computer games to provide realistic graphics and sound. With these advances, computer game users have come to expect that games meet high standards for richness and attention to detail. For computer games that are intended to represent real world places, such as road race games, users expect the games to provide convincing depictions of the real world, with attention to accuracy and detail.
Computer game developers have recognized the need to provide realistic depictions of places in computer games. This has placed a burden on computer game developers to obtain the data needed to portray geographic places with realistic detail and accuracy. The collection of such detailed geographic data about real world roads, places, etc., is time-consuming and expensive. Further, the collection of detailed real world data diverts the resources of computer game developers away from other important aspects of computer game creation, such as characters, story lines, and strategies. Thus, there exists a need to facilitate the collection and use of geographic data by game developers.
Another consideration related to the development of computer games is that the computer game developer may not want to depict an actual geographic location. Instead, the computer game developer may want to depict a location that appears similar to an actual location. For example, instead of depicting the actual city of Los Angeles, the computer game developer may want to depict a southern California city that is like Los Angeles. The computer game developer may want to do this for a variety of reasons. One reason is that it relieves the computer game developer of the burden of collecting the large amount of data needed to depict the actual city. Another consideration is that it allows the computer game developer to avoid having game players find discrepancies between the geographic location depicted in the computer game and the actual geographic locations. Still another consideration is that it allows a computer game developer to include advertising and product placements.
Even if a computer game developer decides to depict a location that is similar to an actual location instead of the real location, the computer game developer is still faced with the problem of obtaining enough geographic data from which to create the location that is similar to an actual location. Thus, modeling a city similar to Los Angeles requires a significant amount of effort in order to make the simulation realistic.
Accordingly, it is an objective to create representations of places that are like real places.
It is another objective to facilitate development of a computer games that represent or depict realistic appearing places that are similar to real places.